Are computers limited to 1 Slave Drive?

Jamin43 · 05-02-2009, 08:20 PM

I've added a Second HDD as a slave drive to a DELL PC in the past. It was petty simple b/c there was an empty plug - and it was pretty simple plug and play with a few other steps with instructions on Dell and the HDD manual?

My quesiton is - if I had wanted to add a 3rd HDD - as a secondary slave drive - would that have been possible? Or are PC's limited to one slave drive per PC.

Would I have had to get a different cable to connect the drive or how would that work?

Thanks

gamerman4 · 05-02-2009, 08:44 PM

You are limited to 1 master and 1 slave per PATA cable.
Most motherboards have at least 2 slots for a PATA cable (newer motherboards have 1 PATA but they have about 6 to 8 SATA)

You if you are running out of space to add hard drives, you could always get a PCI controller card.

Jamin43 · 05-02-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamerman4

You are limited to 1 master and 1 slave per PATA cable.
Most motherboards have at least 2 slots for a PATA cable (newer motherboards have 1 PATA but they have about 6 to 8 SATA)

You if you are running out of space to add hard drives, you could always get a PCI controller card.

Got it

And each PATA can connect to a HDD and you can add as many drives as you want / can fit in your case - as you have available SATA plugs on your MOBO?

Is that correct?

fmw · 05-02-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamin43

Got it

And each PATA can connect to a HDD and you can add as many drives as you want / can fit in your case - as you have available SATA plugs on your MOBO?

Is that correct?

No, each PATA or IDE can handle two drives. Since there are 2 IDE controllers on most IDE mainboards that is a limit of 4 drives. SATA is another issue. You can have as many drives as you have sata connectors - one drive per connector. Most mainboards have 4-6 sata connectors. Server boards with 16 connectors aren't that uncommon. If you are buying new drives, avoid IDE if you can. It is a technology that is end of life. Some of the latest mainboards don't even have IDE controllers any longer.

Jamin43 · 05-02-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmw

No, each PATA or IDE can handle two drives. Since there are 2 IDE controllers on most IDE mainboards that is a limit of 4 drives. SATA is another issue. You can have as many drives as you have sata connectors - one drive per connector. Most mainboards have 4-6 sata connectors. Server boards with 16 connectors aren't that uncommon.

I think we were on the same page. You just articulated it more clearly with your post.

gamerman4 · 05-03-2009, 03:48 AM

Remember, only PATA uses the Slave/Master system.
SATA cables are only 1 hard drive per connection, most modern hard drives use SATA because it is newer and capable of faster speeds.

Jamin43 · 05-03-2009, 05:01 AM

So if building a new PC from scratch - I should ignore the PATA alltogether and use SATA because it's faster.

gamerman4 · 05-03-2009, 05:26 AM

Well I use PATA for CD/DVD drives because speed doesn't matter as much for them. I then use SATA for my hard drives.

05-02-2009, 08:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jamin43 Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 943	Are computers limited to 1 Slave Drive? I've added a Second HDD as a slave drive to a DELL PC in the past. It was petty simple b/c there was an empty plug - and it was pretty simple plug and play with a few other steps with instructions on Dell and the HDD manual? My quesiton is - if I had wanted to add a 3rd HDD - as a secondary slave drive - would that have been possible? Or are PC's limited to one slave drive per PC. Would I have had to get a different cable to connect the drive or how would that work? Thanks

05-02-2009, 08:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
gamerman4 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arkansas Age: 19 Posts: 2,806	You are limited to 1 master and 1 slave per PATA cable. Most motherboards have at least 2 slots for a PATA cable (newer motherboards have 1 PATA but they have about 6 to 8 SATA) You if you are running out of space to add hard drives, you could always get a PCI controller card. __________________ Intel Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz Xigmatek HDT-S1283 ASUS P5Q SE PLUS HDDs:1 x 500GB 1x 750GB 1x 1000GB 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 1066 ATi Radeon HD 4870 1024MB PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Logitech Z-5500 there shouldn't be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

05-03-2009, 03:48 AM	#6 (permalink)
gamerman4 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arkansas Age: 19 Posts: 2,806	Remember, only PATA uses the Slave/Master system. SATA cables are only 1 hard drive per connection, most modern hard drives use SATA because it is newer and capable of faster speeds. __________________ Intel Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz Xigmatek HDT-S1283 ASUS P5Q SE PLUS HDDs:1 x 500GB 1x 750GB 1x 1000GB 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 1066 ATi Radeon HD 4870 1024MB PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Logitech Z-5500 there shouldn't be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

05-03-2009, 05:26 AM	#8 (permalink)
gamerman4 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arkansas Age: 19 Posts: 2,806	Well I use PATA for CD/DVD drives because speed doesn't matter as much for them. I then use SATA for my hard drives. __________________ Intel Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz Xigmatek HDT-S1283 ASUS P5Q SE PLUS HDDs:1 x 500GB 1x 750GB 1x 1000GB 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 1066 ATi Radeon HD 4870 1024MB PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Logitech Z-5500 there shouldn't be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

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05-03-2009, 05:01 AM	#7 (permalink)
Jamin43 Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 943	So if building a new PC from scratch - I should ignore the PATA alltogether and use SATA because it's faster.

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